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Publications

Highlights

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Wang, Z, Zhao, L, Huang L., Hong A., Yu C., Xiao Q., Zou B., Xin J., Zhang L., Zhang J., Wang Y., Jia P. (2020) Traffic-related environmental factors and childhood obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews. 10.1111/obr.12995

This study reviews existing research on the relationship between traffic‐related environmental factors and childhood obesity. Of 16 studies of weight‐related behaviours, significant associations are reported in 11 out of 12 studies on traffic flow, 5 out of 6 studies on traffic safety, one study on traffic pollution, and one study on traffic noise. Among 23 studies of weight‐related outcomes, significant associations are reported in 6 out of 14 studies on traffic flow, 7 out of 10 studies on traffic pollution, and two out of five on traffic noise. Our findings show that long‐term traffic pollution is weakly positively associated with children's BMI growth, and traffic flow, pollution, and noise could affect weight‐related behaviours. Associations between traffic density and noise and weight status are rather inconclusive.

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Hong, Andy, Byoungjun Kim, and Michael Widener. 2019. Noise and the City: Leveraging crowdsourced big data to examine the spatio-temporal relationship between urban development and noise annoyance. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. 10.1177/2399808318821112

This study examined the relationship between construction activities and noise annoyance and tested whether this relationship is stronger after working hours. Data were drawn from a historical inventory of major development projects and 2 million records of crowdsourced citizen complaints data (311 calls) in Vancouver, Canada from 2011 to 2016. Results show that neighborhood noise complaints were significantly associated with major constructions. A significant interaction effect was also found between construction activities and after-hours reporting. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to empirically show the adverse effects of urban development on noise annoyance. The results imply that existing noise bylaws may not be effective in restricting construction activities at night and during sleeping hours, which may cause adverse health effects.

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Hong, Andy. 2019. Effect of mode shift from car to light rail on personal exposure: A controlled experiment. Atmospheric Environment, 196: 53-65. 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.10.004

This paper investigates to what extent mode shift from car to LRT can reduce personal exposure to PM2.5, BC, and UFP. Simultaneous measurements on LRT and automobile were conducted under four plausible commuting scenarios in Los Angeles, California from October to November in 2014. The results indicate that modal difference in commuter exposure between car and LRT is, in large part, driven by ventilation status and travel microenvironments. Other factors, such as roadway type, vehicle fan strength, vehicle speed, and vehicle age, are likely to influence the modal difference in a more subtle way. Results inform future research and policy about the importance of incorporating ventilation and traffic microenvironments for assessing the health effects of a mode switch from car to LRT.

New light rail transit and active travel: A longitudinal study

Hong, Andy, Sallis, James F., King, Abby C., Conway, Terry, Saelens, Brian, Cain, Kelli, Fox, Eric, Frank, Lawrence. 2018. Linking green space to neighborhood social capital in older adults: The role of perceived safety. Social Science & Medicine, 207: 38-45. 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.051

This study examines the moderating effect of perceived safety on the association of green space with neighborhood social capital in older adults. Data were drawn from 647 independent-living seniors who participated in the Senior Neighborhood Quality of Life Study in the Seattle/King County and Baltimore/Washington DC region. The results suggest that certain green space elements, such as natural sights, may be beneficial to neighborhood social capital of older adults. However, other types of green space, such as parks and street trees, may be less advantageous to older adults who perceive their neighborhoods as unsafe for pedestrians. Findings highlight the importance of pedestrian safety in examining associations of green space with neighborhood social capital in older adults.

New light rail transit and active travel: A longitudinal study

Hong, Andy, Boarnet, Marlon G., Houston, Douglas. 2016. New light rail transit and active travel: A longitudinal study. Transportation Research Part A, 92: 131-144. 10.1016/j.tra.2016.07.005

This study investigates the before-and-after impact of a new light rail transit line on active travel behavior. Using panel data, we found that living within a half-mile of a transit station was associated with an increase in walking and physical activity for participants who previously had low walking and physical activity levels. The results were opposite for participants with previously high walking and physical activity levels. Future policy and research should consider the possibility that sedentary populations may be more responsive to new transit investments, and more targeted “soft” approaches in transit service would be needed to encourage people to make healthy travel choices.

Peer-Reviewed JOURNAL ARTICLES

  1. Adhikari, B., Delgado-Ron, J.A., White, K.R., Van den Bosch, M., Dummer, T., Hong, A., Sandhu, J., Demlow, E., Hu, Y., Frank, L.D., (2021) Community Design and hypertension: Walkability and park access relationships with cardiovascular health. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 237. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2021.113820 - Impact Factor: 5.840
     

  2. Ahn, H., Lee, J., Hong, A. (2021) Does urban greenway design affect air pollution exposure? A Case Study of Seoul, South Korea. Sustainable Cities and Society, 72. doi: 10.1016/j.scs.2021.103038 - Impact Factor: 7.587
     

  3. Jo, Y., Hong, A., and Sung, H. (2021). Density or Connectivity: What Are the Main Causes of the Spatial Proliferation of COVID-19 in Korea?. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(10), 5084. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105084 - Impact Factor: 2.849
     

  4. Patino, J.E., Hong, A., Duque, J, Rahimi, K., Zapata, S., and Lopera, V.M. (2021) Built environment and mortality risk from cardiovascular disease and diabetes in Medellin, Colombia: An ecological study. Landscape and Urban Planning, 213, 104126. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2021.104126 - Impact Factor: 5.441
     

  5. Frank, L. D., Hong, A., & Ngo, V. D. (2021). Build It and They Will Cycle: Causal Evidence from the Downtown Vancouver Comox Greenway. Transport Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2021.02.003
     

  6. Kang, J., Hong, A, Sung, H. (2021) Moderating effect of ICT use on the relationship between neighborhood walkability and subjective quality of life (QoL). The Journal of Korea Planning Association (Korean).
     

  7. Rosella L, O'Neill M, Fisher S, Hurst M, Dimert L, Kornas K, Hong, A, Manuel DG. (2020) A study protocol for a predictive algorithm to assess population-based premature mortality risk: Premature Mortality Population Risk Tool (PreMPoRT). Diagnostic and Prognostic Research, 4:18. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41512-020-00086-z
     

  8. Adhikari, B., Hong, A., and Frank, L.D. (2020) Residential relocation, preferences, life events, and travel behavior: A pre-post study. Research in Transportation Business and Management, 36 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2020.100483
     

  9. Rossa-Roccor, V., Acheson, E., Andrade-Rivas, F., Coombe, M., Ogura, S., Super, L., Hong, A. (2020) A scoping review and bibliometric analysis of the term `Planetary Health' in the peer-reviewed literature. Frontiers in Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.00343
     

  10. Mei, K., Huang, H., Xia, F., Hong, A., Chen, X., Zhang, C., Qiu, G., Chen, G., Wang, Z., Wang, C., Yang, B., Xiao, Q., Jia, P. (2020) State-of-the-art of measures of the obesogenic environment for children. Obesity Reviewshttps://doi.org/10.1111/obr.13093
     

  11. Wang, Z, Zhao, L, Huang L., Hong A., Yu C., Xiao Q., Zou B., Xin J., Zhang L., Zhang J., Wang Y., Jia P. (2020) Traffic-related environmental factors and childhood obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/obr.12995
     

  12. Guan, ChengHe, Keith, Michael, and Hong, Andy (2019) Designing walkable cities and neighborhoods in the era of urban big data. Urban Planning International, 34(5): 9-15 (Chinese). https://doi.org/10.22217/upi.2019.389
     

  13. Hong, Andy, Byoungjun Kim, and Michael Widener (2019) Noise and the City: Leveraging crowdsourced big data to examine the spatio-temporal relationship between urban development and noise annoyance. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808318821112
     

  14. Frank, Lawrence D., Mayaud, Jerome, Hong, Andy, Fisher, Pat, Kershaw, Suzanne (2019) Unmet demand for walkable neighborhoods in a mid-sized Canadian community: Implications for planning. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X19831064
     

  15. Frank, Lawrence D., Hong, Andy, and Ngo, Victor D (2019) Causal evaluation of urban greenway retrofit: A longitudinal study on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2019.01.011
     

  16. Frank, Lawrence D, Iroz-Elardo, Nicole, MacLeod, Kara E., and Hong, Andy (2019). Pathways from built environment to health: A conceptual framework linking behavior and exposure-based impacts. Journal of Transport & Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2018.11.008
     

  17. Hong, Andy. (2019). Effect of mode shift from car to light rail on personal exposure: A controlled experiment. Atmospheric Environment, 196: 53-65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.10.004
     

  18. Hong, Andy, Sallis, James F., King, Abby C., Conway, Terry, Saelens, Brian, Cain, Kelli, Fox, Eric, Frank, Lawrence. (2018). Linking green space to neighborhood social capital in older adults: The role of perceived safety. Social Science & Medicine, 207: 38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.04.051
     

  19. Boarnet, Marlon G, Hong, Andy, Santiago-Bartolomei, Raul. (2017). Urban spatial structure, employment subcenters, and freight travel.  Journal of Transport Geography, 60: 267-276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2017.03.007
     

  20. Kim, Dohyung, Park, JiYoung, Hong, Andy. (2017). The role of destination's built environment on nonmotorized travel behavior: A case of Long Beach, California. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X16688765
     

  21. Hong, Andy, Boarnet, Marlon G., Houston, Douglas. (2016). New light rail transit and active travel: A longitudinal study. Transportation Research Part A, 92: 131-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2016.07.005
     

  22. Hong, Andy, Schweitzer, Lisa, Marr, Lindsey, Yang, Wan. (2015). Impact of temporary freeway closure on regional air quality: A lesson from Carmageddon in Los Angeles, United States. Environmental Science and Technology, 49(5): 3211–3218. https://doi.org/10.1021/es505185c
     

  23. Hong, Andy. 2014. Do attitudes moderate the built environment impact on bicycle commuting? Findings from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey of the United States. Korean Local Administration Review, 11(2): 155-172. http://kisseng.kstudy.com/thesis/thesis-view.asp?key=3464045
     

  24. Hong, E. Andy and Bae, C.-H Christine. (2012). Exposure of bicyclists to air pollution in Seattle, Washington: Hybrid analysis using personal monitoring and land use regression. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No. 2270: 59-66. https://doi.org/10.3141/2270-08

PATENTS

  1. Frank, L. D., Chapman, J., Iroz-Elardo, N., Hong, E. A. (2020) Methods and systems for detecting environment features in images, predicting location-based health metrics based on environment features, and improving health outcomes and costs. U.S. Patent Application No. 16/119,829. https://patents.google.com/patent/US20200075168A1

BOOK CHAPTERS

  1. Jani, Anant and Hong, Andy (forthcoming) Urban Transitions, Green Infrastructure and Planetary Health. Economics of Planetary Health. The Rockefeller Foundation Planetary Health Economic Council. Oxford, UK.
     

  2. Hong, Andy (2018) Environmental Benefits of Active Transportation. In Richard Larouche (Ed.), Children’s Active Transportation. Cambridge, UK: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-811931-0.00002-8

Op-ed/media contribution

  1.  Chakrabarti, Sandip & Hong, Andy. (2020) Keep cities moving during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Thomson Reuters Foundation News. https://news.trust.org/item/20200427112438-npvbo
     

  2. Hong, Andy. (2019) What can London learn from car-free cities around the world? Thomson Reuters Foundation News. http://news.trust.org/item/20190920100921-ou5qd

Research Reports

  1. Hong, Andy. CitySensor: Development and pilot testing of urban environmental sensor using open-source hardware and software. Final report to the USC Graduate School, 2016.
     

  2. Hong, Andy, and Boarnet, Marlon, The Expo Light Rail Line: A context to examine how the urban environment is associated with physical activity. USC Lusk Center for Real Estate, 2013.
     

  3. Bae, C.-H Christine, Hong, Andy, Developing a methodology to measure and analyze bicyclist exposure to black carbon emissions: A pilot study. The Korea Transport Institute, Ilsan, Korea, 2011.
     

  4. Ginger, Noa, Hong, Andy, Murphy, John, Rose, Danielle, Schmiedeskamp, Peter, Snypp, Amanda, Torikai, Eiji, Bicycling planning, best practices, and count methodology. Puget Sound Regional Council, Seattle, 2010.
     

  5. Benson, Diana, Brey, Greg, Hong, Andy, Snypp, Amanda, Shoreline southeast subarea implementation strategy: Shoreline bicycle wayfinding. Northwest Center for Livable Communities, University of Washington, Seattle, 2010.
     

  6. Hong, Andy, Green transportation: the role of grassroots organizations in Seattle. In C.-H Christine Bae and Dana Spindler (eds.), Green growth: The case of Seattle. Korea Research Institute for Human Settlement, Seoul, 2010.

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